Share this:

The two games the Rangers have lost in their opening-round playoff series to the Senators have been in overtime. So does Rangers coach John Tortorella have a solution for how they can remedy losing in the sudden-death period?

“Make a play,” Tortorella said Friday morning during his curt press conference at Madison Square Garden. “It’s not luck, it could be a number of things. Just make a play.”

With the best-of-7 series tied 2-2 heading into Saturday’s Game 5 here, the Rangers are not hanging their heads about either of the losses. In Game 4 in Ottawa, they had a quick two-goal lead 6:10 into the game, but eventually squandered it and lost to a Kyle Turris wrist shot in overtime.

The Rangers were adamant after that game that they never stopped attacking and it was not too much of a letdown. That is in stark contrast to Game 2, when they led 2-1 with five minutes remaining and sat back while Nick Foligno scored the tying goal. They lost that one when Chris Neil managed to score 1:17 into the extra period.

“I think we’ve been playing well in the series,” Ryan Callahan said. “This is playoff hockey, this is how it goes. You don’t win them all. They get two overtime wins and you’ve got to stay positive and keep going.”

***

The Senators told reporters in Ottawa that captain Daniel Alfredsson will not be making the trip to New York for Game 5. Alfredsson was concussed in Game 2 on a hit from Rangers rookie Carl Hagelin and hasn’t returned to game action.

Hagelin was suspended for three games, the last of which he will serve Saturday.